Bitcoin surpasses $1,000

Cryptocurrency Bitcoin has surpassed the $1,000 mark for the first time in three years. The landmark value was hit during Monday trading at $1,019.

This marker is the latest sign of the cryptocurrency's increase in value in recent months, buoyed by China's devaluation of the yuan, the removal of high valuation bank notes in Inidia in November, and increasing investment in Bitcoin. A significant spike in the currency's value coincided with Donald Trump's victory in November's US Presidential election.

Most Bitcoin trading occurs in China, with huge farms dedicated to mining for new and increasingly more difficult to exract bitcoins.

Bitcoin has not passed the $1,000 since 2013 when it hit $1,100 prior to the hacking of bitcoin exchange Mt Gox that saw 744,408, out of 12,500,000 BTC in existence at the time, stolen. That is roughly 6 per cent of the entire currency that was stolen from the site which was worth a staggering $818,848,800.